CHAPTER 19 – With This Purpose (Part 2)

Hmm.

Sehyun hummed a little tune as he turned the steering wheel. The morning sunlight pounded brightly on the car window, and the sky was the clearest blue it had been in a long time.  After parking the car in the Sinsa-dong alley, he lightly stepped into the flower shop.

“Good morning, hello.”

At Sehyun’s greeting, the shop owner, who was busy with the packaging, looked up. Seeing Sehyun, he smiled warmly and returned the greeting.

“You’re here already? I’m almost done.”

“I came a little early. Haha. I’m eager.”

“I was worried you had stopped coming since it’s been a while.”

The owner said, tying a ribbon with a busy hand. This was the flower shop they used to frequent when Sehyun was seeing Seoyeon.

“We almost broke up, and now I’m going to hold on to her tightly.”

Sehyun made a slightly embarrassed expression as he ran his hand over his lips.

“Oh, I’m so glad to hear that. I was relieved when I got your call yesterday.”

At the owner’s words, Sehyun nodded his head. It’s only now, after taking this long detour, that he’s realized his feelings.

[Oppa, I’m sorry but let’s stop seeing each other. I don’t like you much anymore.]

When Haewon’s message arrived, he felt devastated. But at the same time, he felt relieved. They were people with fundamentally different natures from the beginning. That was the first thought that came to him.

[Okay, Haewon. I hope you’re always happy…]

With a brief text saying goodbye, the lump in his heart seemed to dissolve, a weight had been lifted off his shoulders, leaving him feeling more at ease. Then his thoughts turned to Seoyeon – her beautiful appearance at the New Year’s party and the background she came from. Yoon Seoyeon was truly a person aligned with him.

Gazing at the flowers, Sehyun smiled softly. The saying “You grow as much as you hurt” was true. After ending his brief fire with Haewon, Sehyun felt that he had matured a step further. Now it was time for him to truly love as an adult.

“It’s all done. How is it?”

Lastly, the owner sprinkled a few drops of water. He showed Sehyun a large, colorful bouquet.  A fragrant scent wafted out from the lush flowers.

“It’s nice.”

The vibrant colors appeal to him. The owner must have a good sense of aesthetics from his UK education. 

This should be something Seoyeon would love as well.

“Your girlfriend will surely love it too. I hope your hearts are reconciled. Fighting!”

“Fighting!”

Sehyun replied, making a fist. He nearly lost her due to a moment’s mistake, but fortunately, he realized it not too late. Everyone makes mistakes. The important thing is what one learns from those mistakes.

Sehyun got back into the driver’s seat with a light heart. The fragrant scent from the bouquet in the passenger seat wafted through. Feeling that this would be a good day, he started the engine.

* * *

The morning sunlight streamed in through the front window and pierced Seoyeon’s eyes. She squinted drowsily at the dancing sunlight on Dojun’s dark hair, the prominent veins on his sturdy forearm, and the armrest of the sofa.

The sunlight that was about to fall on Seoyeon’s body was blocked by Dojun, casting only a shadow. Seoyeon’s body, speckled by his shadow, was curled on the sofa. She couldn’t even remember how she ended up in this corner.

She lifted her hazy eyes to look at Dojun. She saw her own white thighs gripped in Dojun’s large hands. The tendons on the back of his hand were highlighted by the dazzling sunlight. Seeing the tendons flexing, Seoyeon unconsciously squeezed her legs.

“I have to… go.”

She wanted to say she had to go to work, but the words only came out halfway. Due to Dojun’s rhythmic movements, her insides were pounding. The vibration grew louder and wider, and Seoyeon curled her toes as much as she could.

“I’ll finish.”

Apparently hearing Seoyeon’s words, Dojun straightened his hips. His large hands gripped Seoyeon’s waist. He began thrusting rapidly.

Seoyeon bit the back of her hand and shook her head frantically. The blood vessels inside her body were crackling as they burned. From her fingertips to her toes, the blood vessels were rapidly, ever more rapidly, igniting the wick that gathered in her lower abdomen.

Ugh.

Something exploded. Seoyeon swallowed a moan and arched her back. The shattered remnants of the intense explosion dispersed throughout her body. Tears welled up in her eyes, blurring her vision.

“Phew.”

A long, low sigh also escaped Dojun’s lips. With the release, his body heavily sank down, but Dojun slowly withdrew. As he lowered Seoyeon’s intermittently contracting legs onto the sofa, he lightly kissed her.

“Wanna take a shower together?”

He asked as he sat up, and Seoyeon shook her head, covering her face with her arms. He was briefly tempted to pick up her sagging body and carry her to the bathroom, but Dojun smirked and only ruffled her hair.

“Use the guest bathroom. I’ll use the inner one.” 

Her once neatly put together appearance – shirt gaping open, skirt hiked up to her waist – was nowhere to be seen as Seoyeon nodded slightly. It was clear she wouldn’t remove the arms covering her face, so Dojun didn’t bother.

In the bathroom, Dojun turned the shower head to the maximum pressure. An hour of swimming, half an hour of lovemaking – the warm water poured down on his body, relaxing his well-worked muscles.

* * *

“Good morning.”

Entering through the back door of the store, Seoyeon greeted the employees with a light smile.

“Yes, Manager. Good morning.”

Assistant Manager Chae Sohee greeted her back with a smile. Seoyeon went into the office inside the store, put down her bag, and turned on the computer. As she took off her jacket, Seongmi poked her head through the office door and said with a playful smile:

“Manager, did you have breakfast?”

“Uh, no. I didn’t have time.”

She replied as she hung her jacket on the coat rack. Like many working people living alone, Seoyeon didn’t tend to have a full breakfast regularly. But she usually managed to have something simple like soy milk or a banana, though that was impossible today.

“I figured, so I brought this. My mom had some leftover rice, so she made rice cakes. I thought of you since you like the chewy ones.”

Seongmi came into the office carrying a container of rice cakes. It was too much for a simple breakfast.

“All of this? What about the others?”

“My mom said to eat what you can, and freeze the rest to grill later. She made a ton, and left some for the others too.”

“Thank you, I’ll enjoy it.”

Seoyeon thanked Seongmi as she pinned on her name tag. Changing into comfortable loafers for work, Seongmi tilted her head and said:

“You look so refreshed today, Manager. Did you do something different? Lipstick? Eyeshadow? What did you change?”

Seongmi examined Seoyeon closely. Although she didn’t think there would be any signs of having been with a man in the morning, Seoyeon couldn’t help her face flushing.

“I didn’t have time to do much makeup since I woke up late. I just put on some sunscreen and a light lip balm.”

Excluding the part about oversleeping, that was the truth. After hastily washing up, there was no time to set up Dojun’s clothes, let alone put on makeup. 

She just applied sunscreen and a lightly tinted lip balm before coming out to the living room, where Dojun was already fully dressed, buttoning up his shirt cuffs as he exited the master bedroom. Their eyes met, and he casually said.

“I just put on whatever was handy.”

“Handy” was an understatement – he looked impeccable in the dark suit and crisp white shirt, his proportions so perfect that he could wear anything and still look stunning. It was almost enough to take Seoyeon’s breath away.

“Ah, so that’s why your hair isn’t fully dry. They say it’s not good to tie up wet hair. Leave it down until it’s dry.”

“Is that so?”

Perceptive as always. Seoyeon had quickly toweled her hair after the shower and tied it up, not having time to fully dry it, and Seongmi had noticed.

“I’ll enjoy the rice cakes. Director Chung is coming at 11 am, so please prepare for that.”

“Yes.”

“She’s coming straight from the spa, so we should have some food ready.”

“Not just a little, but a lot.”

Seoyeon nodded with a smile at Seongmi’s meaningful expression.

“Yes, please prepare a lot.”

“Understood.” 

Seongmi left, closing the door behind her. Left alone, Seoyeon let out a long sigh. It was difficult to act naturally, as if she hadn’t done anything wrong.

This is why people who do things they shouldn’t die early.

Seoyeon sighed and pressed her fingertips to the corners of her eyes.

It’s Monday. Get it together.

She muttered to herself, taking a deep breath, but she couldn’t shake the overwhelming feeling about Dojun.

* * *

The table in the VIP room was piled high with deep red Heritage-branded boxes. Two coats, a blouse, three pairs of shoes, a pair of boots, two bags, and a watch. And that was just what she had selected – the number of items she had tried on was uncountable.

“I really don’t like sparkling water, it upsets my stomach. Where did that other lady go? But about CEO Hwang – so he’s completely backed off from the hotel project? Have you two heard anything?”

Director Chung Eun-hee of the Oreum Art Museum had a habit of jumping between various topics. Popping a mini cupcake from the three-tier tray into her mouth, she looked at Seoyeon.

“I’ll fill up the left side for you.”

Seoyeon said kindly, fastening the watch onto Director Chung’s wrist.

“I’ve tried dropping a few hints, but it’s just not clicking. I might have to go through CEO Hwang to properly bring it up. That’s right, Manager Yoon, I need to leave by 12:30. Don’t forget to let me know.”

“Okay, how’s this? Comparing the two, you can see the difference clearly.”

As Seoyeon spoke, Director Chung looked back and forth between the oval watch on her left wrist and the square one on her right.

“My second daughter says she won’t date anyone other than Hwang Dojun. She has that high of a standard. As for the watch, I’ll have to do that another time. I just don’t feel a connection to any of them.”

Director Chung Eun-hee was the wife of Chairman  Kang Jeongwoo. She was also the daughter of former foreign minister Chung Hyeon-cheol. Seoyeon smiled and removed the watch from Director Chung’s wrist.

“Within 10 years, he’ll be the vice chairman, and take over before Chairman Hwang passes away. But he needs to get married before that.”

Director Chung muttered to herself, then stood up and brushed off her hands. Seoyeon picked up Director Chung’s coat from the hanger.

“I’ll just switch the bag. Have the rest sent to my place.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Seoyeon escorted Director Chung out of the VIP room. Seongmi, who had been waiting for her, came up beside her.

“Except for the watch, start gathering the items on the table.”

“Yes, Manager.”

“I’ll double-check it, so just stack them neatly to the side. Director Chung, please wait a moment while I get the new items.”

After giving those instructions, Seoyeon went to fetch the new merchandise for the bag Director Chung was taking. As she was cutting open the plastic wrap on the sealed box, the store’s front door burst open.

“Yoon Seoyeon!”

The booming voice startled Seoyeon, and she turned around to see a person carrying a huge bouquet of flowers in the open doorway.

“Flower delivery for Yoon Seoyeon! Is Yoon Seoyeon here?”

The loud voice echoed through the store. The customers, Director Chung, and the employees all stared wide-eyed at the flower-bearing person.

“Oh my, Manager Yoon, it seems your person has come. Oh my, oh my, how amusing!”

Director Chung clapped her hands and laughed. Knowing all too well who the bouquet bearer was, Seoyeon squeezed her eyes shut in disbelief and pressed her hand to her temple.

The man with the bouquet strode in, his face covered, and with a snap, he lowered the bouquet to his side. Sehyun looked at Seoyeon, his face a mixture of nervousness, excitement, and trepidation.

“Sehyun, please, this is too much.”

Before Seoyeon could even express her discomfort, Sehyun swung the bouquet like a knight and knelt on one knee. He then let out a tense breath and looked at Seoyeon.

“Sehyun, don’t do this.”

Seoyeon swallowed a sigh and spoke to Sehyun. She couldn’t believe all eyes in the store were focused on them.

“Seoyeon, I was wrong about everything. The guilt of hurting your feelings, making you cry because of me, I will take all the blame. You can hit me until you’re satisfied, or refuse to meet me until your anger subsides. But still, Yoon Seoyeon.”

Sehyun paused briefly, took a deep breath, and then, with a solemn face, said,

“I love you. I’m serious.”

Why are you doing this, really?

Seoyeon just wanted to cover her face and cry.